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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.

Each club entered this game with matching records in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was little to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker causing problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta raised the intensity and deservedly equalised when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a powerful strike.

Chelsea tried to salvage a draw late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase matches remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta seized the moment.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be departing with nothing after securing the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's worrying streak of results in all tournaments.

Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four games.

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for crucial games.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you see the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it is different but it involves the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who played tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.